Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:34 pm Post subject: Looking for ancestors - Mails/Meols etc
Let me introduce myself. I am Jim Mails (Meols). Over the years the name has been spelled like people hear it. I have had lots of different spellings over the years, and understand why it is some times very difficult to trace ancestors.
Currently my trace has led me to Meols, UK. where I am trying to find the name Meols.
Can any one shed light on the subject for me? Any help will be gratefully accepted.
Over the ages something has always drawn me to the UK, Ireland, area, and now I am begining to understand why.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
Jim Mails (Meols ?)
_________________ Change is inevitable, growth is optional.
There was a De Meols (or Meales) family here a long time ago but they appear to have died out by the 14th century. The name is generally thought to be a variation of the Norse word for sandhill.
This is North Meols and there is another Meols in Cheshire, but that is pronounced "Mells" which is closer to the Norse, whereas we pronounce it as it is written (literally "meols").
During the Civil War Prince Rupert crossed over the Ribble estuary from Freckleton Naze and "marched up the mells" according to the history books - in other words he marched along the sandhills.
Maybe your ancestors came from around here, or maybe it was Cheshire, but they probably took their name from the place where they lived which would have been a place near the coast with a lot of sandhills.
Good luck with your search.
_________________ Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!
So glad you knew all that Bez - lots of it new to me.
I'm not sure I've ever come across Meols/Meales/Mails as a surname before. Jim maybe you could list some of what you have on a thread under the letter M. You never know if anyone can help.
_________________ Mad on Genealogy or just plain mad? :)
looking at trees on ancestry it looks as though the De Meols family were in Devon in the 1200's and then their daughter [Joan] married Robert De Coudrey of North Meols.
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:04 pm Post subject: looking for ancestors
Jane and sooner,
I have found evidence in the tree to confirm roots in Wales, Ireland, and the UK. They came down from the North, and settled in the Meoles area, and some went to Ireland and Scottland.
It is so very hard to pin point. So my feelings tell me to just accept those in the Meol and North Meol area as friends and kin folk.
It would be so very nice after making friends in the area, to make the trip over and visit. I look forward to that possibility.
I think I will get to the challenge of posting a picture or two.
Thanks for your info.
Jim
_________________ Change is inevitable, growth is optional.
Er, yes - that is actually what I meant when I said Cheshire. Apparently it has only been in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral since local government reorganisation in 1974 - just as Southport is now supposed to be in Merseyside, a term I refuse to use we are still within the boundary of the County Palatine of Lancaster, but that's another story.
I still think of Hoylake as being in Cheshire, but that is now Wirral as well. Of course, both places have always been on the Wirral peninsula, but it used to be called Cheshire.
Sorry if I have caused you any confusion.
Another variation of the name was Meles.
_________________ Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!
Bez, please excuse my ignorance of those facts you mentioned about what the area is or used to be called. I started my search two weeks past, and I know very little about the area, however, I welcome to learn more. Thanks for the history lesson. I have been a life long learner since 1992, and welcome the information. Please feel free to discuss the Merseyside/County Palatine of Lancaster subject. I welcome the information.
I did a search of the 1841 Census, and found 23 listings of the Surname Mails. As I look on, there listings of Mails in all the Census years. I really want to learn more History of your land. I am only aware of the movement Southward into your area, and the forming of society in those years.
If you would, please give me reference to books of History I can read to enlighten me further.
Thanks in advance Bez, and may you have a happy Easter season.
Jim Mails
_________________ Change is inevitable, growth is optional.
The Domesday Book (1086) says - "Mele was held by three Thanes, for three Manors.........; ...... in that part of Lancashire between the Ribble and the Mersey"
My belief is that the word Mele is derived from the Viking word Otregrimele, and was so called when by them when they landed c.1020(ish). The information I have gleaned over the past 12 years is mainly from the books by Walter Jesson (Megasaga and Betwixt Ribbel and Moerse) and from the origin of the surname Rimmer by Arthur Rimmer - both men having put in many years of research and study on both the surname and the area - Walter Jesson's books both worthy of a read by anybody researching this area (and may be purchased from the North Meols (Southport) FHS.
Incidentally - DNA testing (so far) has proved that the only 100% Viking match was a Wilfred Rimmer from the Wirral!
_________________ I may be a shrimp but I'm BIG on family history
I've moved this - only because i thought it made more sense under asking for help
Jim - you might find it useful to have a look at the society web site. There is a list of the publications we sell and they can easily be bought and paid for via the Internet
The Walter Jesson books are an interesting read, but have a very big drawback - they are not referenced at all, so there is no way of verifying anything the author has written.
There are only 2 academic histories of North Meols - the first was by William Farrer (History of North Meols, published 1906) and part of this can be found online as part of the digital version of the Victoria County History of Lancashire.
There is a separate section dealing with the Parish of North Meols.
The only modern book to rival Farrer's History of North Meols is "North Meols and Southport: A History" by Peter Aughton. This is now out of print, but second-hand copies can be obtained over the internet.
There is also the "Annals of Southport", by Edward Bland (1903) and this can be viewed online.
However, a word of caution for Bland. His early history is full of mistakes because he published before Farrer, so didn't have the benefit of Farrer's research. Also, despite taking what he thought were the salient points from the local papers when they came into existance, he managed to make some pretty glaring errors. (Such as putting in the wrong name for the lifeboat involved in the "Mexico" disaster - the boat he named had been taken out of service some 20 years earlier). Having said that, it is an excellent starting point so long as you remember that he didn't include everything that you might have expected, and he did make mistakes. Its major advantage is that it is not only indexed, it is arranged chronologically into years, so it is very easy to find things. I really like Bland, despite its shortcomings.
_________________ Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!
Thank you admin,
and thank you Bez,
for all you do to help us newbies to the site. I am a Security Officer, and had the 3rd shift, to fill in for another person, last evening, so my post is off-timing just a bit. You are probably just ready to have dinner.
Thanks for the leads you have provided. I will be spending quite some time researching the info.
As soon as I compile my research data, I will post it for further conversation.
Thanks again,
Jim Mails (????)
_________________ Change is inevitable, growth is optional.
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